Saeger emerged as an essential, dependable role player in baseball, football and wrestling this year.

His instincts, savvy and toughness made him a solid defender, breaking up pass plays and tackling with fury in helping the Indians win their first Pioneer Athletic Conference football title.

In baseball, Saeger's sure hands have made him a steady fielder at second base, helping the Indians advance into the District One postseason tournament.

But perhaps Saeger's most remarkable moment has come in wrestling, a sport he went out for only in his senior season.

With no experience, no history of executing takedowns or securing holds, he found himself against fierce foes and incredible odds.

"After my first practice, I sat in the locker room, nearly passed out and puking in the corner for an hour," Saeger said. "It was like, `Why am I doing this? What have I got to prove?"'

He wasn't wrestling to prove his machismo, he said. It was just that the sport had seemed to be a lot of fun.

And the team, which was extremely talented in the lower weight classes, needed help in the upper weights.

A 5-foot-10, 170-pounder, Saeger figured he had the physique and the strength to help bolster the Indians' already strong team.

He wrestled at 160 or 171, winning only one varsity match but proving an invaluable asset. He stayed in most of his matches, losing just the three team points and not the six that accompany a forfeit.

"He came to me a week or two into the season," wrestling coach Tom Hontz said. "He said, `Coach, do you need someone in those weight classes?'

"I said, `Yeah.' He showed up for practice. I have never seen a kid so tired after practice. I didn't think he'd come back, but he kept plugging away."

Saeger's refusal to relent easily, his desire to wrestle with gusto and to struggle valiantly, inspired the team, Hontz said.

"There was this very important match against Great Valley,"Hontz said. "He went against a really good opponent (at 160) and refused to be pinned."

Saeger lost his bout, but his gutsy effort helped pump up his teammates, Hontz said.

"His fight out there changed the momentum," Hontz said. "With the experienced kid they had, they have to be thinking of getting a pin. But they didn't, and they didn't get any bonus points.

"If they pin from 160 all the way through (heavyweight), we could have lost. When (Blaec) didn't get pinned, he sealed the victory for us."

That victory helped vault Upper Perkiomen to its first wrestling league title in school history. The Indians shared the PAC-10 crown with Spring-Ford.

"I've always been curious about wrestling, about what it's like," Saeger said. "But I can't say I really wanted to wrestle in the past. I hadn't thought about it a lot.

"But this year watching some matches, seeing that (the school) had a good team, I just wanted to try it."

He wrestled two junior-varsity matches first, winning both while trying to acclimate to the sport.

He lost his first two varsity bouts and then, in what he called an emotional moment, he secured his first varsity victory -- with a pin against St. Pius X.

"That was the highlight, definitely," Saeger said. "That one pin. I had been wrestling only three weeks at that point.

"I didn't know anything at that point. So when I got the pin, it was incredible."

Though Saeger has grown fond of wrestling, his best sports remain football and baseball.

He overcame a shoulder injury his sophomore year in football, hitting the weight room and dedicating himself to excellence on the field.

He had always wanted to sprint quickly, so he did everything he could to rev up his shoes.

He ran hills, did leg lifts, went on long-distance jogs. He jumped rope, ran sprints and ran uphill in snow.

"When I was a freshman I ran the 40 in 5.7 (seconds)," Saeger said. "When I was a senior, I ran a 4.7 40. I cut it by a whole second. It had been my biggest weakness. I really wanted to be better at that."

His desire showed on the football field, where Saeger often hit consistently hard and wisely.

"He's like a gutty kid, not overly big, but gutty and with football sense," said Steve Moyer, who retired as football coach after this past season. "He knew the game, anticipated well."

Saeger, who hopes to play football at East Stroudsburg University, had what is perhaps a defender's best asset: the ability to be around the ball, to get to it and to ball carriers in a hurry.